Throttle-valve controller.



G. P. THURBER.

THROTTLE VALVE CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1911. RENEWED 1.111.14, 1913.

1,1 17,278. Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

611] I, T k111i Inventor by 9 1 U,

Attorneys.

G. P. THURBER.

THROTTLE VALVE CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1911. RENEWED JAN.14,1913.

1,1 17,278. Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'IHIII'KHI J zgflfla/ififl w|tness II4I b Inventor, 0% W O Attorneys.

1 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

GUY P. THURBEB, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AS SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO AUTOMATIC TBAIN-CON'IROL & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PITTSBURGH,

Ti ROT'rLE-VAL E CONTROLLER.

Application filed November 1, 1911, seen-i1 No. 658,031. Renewed January 14, 1913. Serial No. 742.064.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUY THURBEIna citizen of the United 4 States, residing at. Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and E State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Throttle Valve Controller, of

which the following is a specification.

'The object of my present invention is to provide simple and efficient mechanism for automatically shifting the throttle lever or like controlling element of a train from the open or power-0n position to the closed or power-011" position.

The invention is designed to be used in connection with certain systems of automatic train co trol which act in the presence of danger conditions to bring the train under automatic 2 control, but as this invention has only to do with'the means for-actually shutting off the power, I have not considered it necessary in this case to show the entire controlling system,.and it will there-1 fore be understood that the invention may' be used in conjunction with any suitable form of automatic train controlling system. In the disclosure herein the invention has been designed particularly for a steam system and I will therefore refer to the controlling element as a throttlelever, but as the invention may also be adapted to electric and other power systems, I would have it understood that this term is used in a general sense and merely as a convenient term .for referring to a controlling element.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention in a concrete and preferred embodiment, but it will be understood that various changes and modificainvention.v

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of the invention in a preferred form, the parts being shown in their normal position. Fig. 2 is a front elevation-ofthe throttle lever. Fig. 3 is'a view showing the opposite side of the throttle lever from that shown in Fig. 1. i Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail view showing the position of the wedge when disengaging the latch from ,the rack. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the automatic throttle operating cylinder, showing the parts in the position of operating the throttle lever. Fig. 6 is a broken sectional view taken substantially on the line if Like reference characters referto corre-v the rack. In the I present instance" it is" I l Patented Nov. 17, 1914. I

Pivotally connected. to the throttle lever mounted to slide upon the face of the throttle lever, it having for this purpose a part 24 which is slidingly guided in the longitudinal slot 25 in the lever. The rack 5 preferably forms a part of, or issecured to, the end of the throttlestem so as to move with the throttle stem and this rack, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, overlies the face. of the throttle lever so as to be engaged by the latch which is slidingly guided upon the face of the lever.. The latch may be nor mally held in engagement with the rack by any suitable means and such means here takes the form of a spring -8 which encircles the stem of the latch, whichstern may be guided through a lug 9 provided on the lever. The latch serves by its engagement with the rack 5 to lock the throttle in any adjusted position, for it will beclear thatwhen the latch is in engagement with the rack, it will be impossible to swin the throttle lever around its pivot link 3. cans are provided whereby the engineer or mo- 1 torman may disengage the latch from the rack to permit of the throttle lever being shifted for the purpose of controlling the movement of the train. Such-manually operated means here takes the form of a slide 10 which engages at its lower end with the stud 26 carried by the latch, andis con-- nected at its upper end with a grip 11, by which the slide may be operated. It will be evident from Figs. 3 and 6 that the operation of the grip 11 will, through the connection described, serve to lift the latch 6 from engagement with rack 5, after which the lever may be freely shifted to either open or cut off the power. Y

The means for automatically operating the throttle lever is, in the present instance, in the form of a wedge 14 slidingly connected with the latch, and which is so arranged that when shifted transversely upon the throttle lever, it will lift the latch from engagement with the rack. Thesliding connection between the wedge and latch is here made by providing the wedge with a slot 15 which'receives the stud 26 carried by the latch. The means by which the shifting move ent of the wedge actually accomplishes the lifting of the latch is provided in the illustration by an inclined support 13 on the lever, which is disposed to be engaged by the lower'inclined surface a on the wedge. It evident from Fig. 3 thatwhen the wedge is forced sidewise, it will ride up this inclined supportand will, by reason of its sliding connection with the latch, lift said latch from engagement with the rack, substantially as shown in Fig. 4. A spring 16 or equivalent device serves to normally hold the wedge in its outward position. The means for shifting the wedge may vary but the same is here shown as a cylinder17 which is supplied with fluid under pressure from a suitable source through pipe 18. Within said cylinder there is a piston 19 which is connected at its outer end with a lever 21, said lever being suitably fulcrumed as by means of a fulcrum link 22. A spring 20 or like means serves normally .to 'hold the piston 19 in a position the reverse of that shown in'Fig. 5. The upper end b of the lever 21 is, as shown in Fig. 1, disposed so that it will, upon admission of fluid into the cylinder, engage with the wedge on the throttle lever.

In the preferred arrangement of this invention the .fluid under pressure for accomplishing the automatic closing of the throttle is preferably taken from the fluid pres sure brake system of the train, andthe flow of this actuating fluid to the cylinder 17 is governed by a so-called magnet valve which forms a part of the automatic train control system. With the operating means;

constructed as in Fig. 5, the pipe 18 is preferably connected with the magnetvalve and said valve is arranged under normal condi tions to prevent flow of actuating fluid to cylinder 17. Upon the arising of danger conditions, this magnet valve acts to admit actuating fluid to the cylinder 17, which fluid forces the piston over into the position shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the upper end I) of the lever 21 engages the angular end of the wedge 14 and thereby, in the manner heretofore described, causes the latch to be disengaged from the. rack. The further movement of lever 21 then forces the throttle lever over so as to cut ofithe power. The

power actuated device thus serves first to unlock the throttle lever and then shifts the same to shut off the power. The power cylinder 17 may be provided with an additional port 23, ,by which additional actuating fluid may be admitted to the cylinder.

VVhatis claimed, is:

1. The combination with a pivoted throttle lever, of a throttle stem pivotally connected thereto, a rack carried by the throttle stem and movable therewith, a latch slidingly mounted on the lever.and arranged to engage the rack, means for normally holding the latchin engagement with the rack, a

wedge mounted for transverse movement upon the lever and slidingly connected with vthe latch, and means for shifting the wedge transversely whereby to lift the latch from engagement with the rack.

2. the combination with a pivoted thro.ttle\&..

lever, of a throttle stem pivotally connected thereto, a rack carried by the throttle stem and movable therewith, a latch slidingly mounted on the lever and arranged to engage the rack, means for normally holding the latch in engagement with the rack, a wedge slidingly connected with the latch, an inclined support on the lever upon which the wedge rests, and means forforcing the wedge up the said inclined supportwhereby to llift the'latch from engagement with the rac 3. In combination, a pivoted throttle lever, a throttle stem connected thereto, a latch slidingly mounted on the lever, a rack arranged to be engaged by said latch, means for normally holding the latch in engagement with the rack, a slide mounted on the lever and connected with the latch, means for manually operating said slide to disengage the latch from the rack, a transversely movable wedge slidingly connected to the latch, an inclined support on the lever with which the wedge engages, and means for forcing the wedge up the saidinclined support whereby to release the latch from engagement with the rack.

4. In combination, a pivoted throttle lever, a throttle stem connected thereto, a latch slidingly mounted on the lever, a rack arranged to be engaged by said latch, means slot in the throttle lever, a rack arranged to be engaged by the latch, means for normally holding the latch in engagement on the rack, a stud carried by the latch, manually operated means connected with said stud for manually releasing the latch from engagement with the rack, a transversely movable wedge slidingly engaged on the said stud, an inclined support on the lever upon which the, wedge rests, and automatically operated means for forcing the wedge up the said inclined support whereby to automatically disengage the latch from the rack.

6. In combination, a longitudinally slotted throttle lever, a throttle stem connected to said lever, a latch disposed on one side of the lever and slidingly guided in the longitudinal slot therein, a rack arranged to be engaged by the said latch, a transversely movable wedge. disposed on the opposite ,face of the lever and provided with a slot therein, a stud carried by the latch engaged in, the slot in the wedge, an inclined support on the lever with which the wedge is adapted to engage, automatically operated means for forcing the wedge up the said inclined support to free the latch from engagement with the rack, and a manually operated slide connected with the stud on the latch.

7. In combination, a longitudinally slotted throttle lever, a throttle stem pivotally connected to said lever, a rack carried by the throttle stein and movable therewith, a latch slidingly guided in the slot in the lever and arranged to engage with the rack aforesaid, means for normally holding the latch in engagement with the rack, a stud carried by the latch, a wedge making sliding engagement with said stud, an inclined support on the lever with which the wedge is adapted to engage, automatically operated means for forcing the wedge up the inclined support, whereby to automatically free the latch from cent with the rack, and a manually operated slide connected with the stud on the latch for manually freeing the latch from engagement with the rack.

8. In combination, a slotted throttle lever, a throttle stem connected to said lever, a latch slidingly guided upon the throttle lever and disposed upon one face thereof, a rack arranged to be engaged by the latch, means for holding the latch in gement with said rack, a wedge moun to slide upon the opposite face of the throttle lever and having connection with the latch to raise the same from the rack when the wedge is slid, means for sliding the wedge, a housing formed on said wedge, and a spring arranged in said housing andenga said lever for returnin the wedge to its initial position after sai sliding means has been released.

9. In combination, a throttle lever, a throttle stem connected to said lever, a rack, a latch slidably mounted upon .said lever and arranged to engage said rack, a wedge slidably mounted upon the lever. and connected with said latch for raising the same out of enga ment with the rack when the wedge is sli means for sliding the wedge, and means carried by said .wedge for returning the same when the first-mentioned means is released.

In testimon that I claim the foregoing as my own, I ave hereto afli'xed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GUY P. THURBEB.

Witnesses:

Manon M. DANAHY, Carnmmzn Lnwn. 

